SBK | Bautista and Ducati together again: the renewal for 2025 is official

It was a rather long tug-of-war, but in the end the two sides managed to find a compromise: Alvaro Bautista will continue to be Ducati’s top man in the Superbike World Championship also in the 2025 season. This morning, in fact, the Aruba.it Racing team announced the signing of the rider from Talavera de la Reina, who has therefore decided to continue his career for at least another year.

After two years of absolute domination aboard the factory Panigale V4R, which yielded two world titles, a change in the regulations introduced this year has made things more complicated for the 39-year-old: it was in fact decided to consider the sum of the rider and the bike when calculating the minimum weight, and this has forced the Borgo Panigale manufacturer to load ballast onto the Spaniard’s bike.

So far, his track record in fact speaks of just two successes this season, which have nevertheless brought his total to 61, making him the most successful ever on a Ducati. However, it seems difficult for him to confirm his position on the world throne, given that the gap from the leader Toprak Razgatlioglu’s BMW is over 100 points. But this has not diminished his desire to race, given that Alvaro has decided to give himself another chance despite being now on the verge of 40 years of age.

“I am very happy to continue another season with Ducati, with Aruba and with this wonderful team that represents a family to me. I feel very good, both physically and mentally and I am sure that I can still be very competitive. Furthermore, an extraordinary relationship has been created with everyone, from the guys on the team, to the management, to the sponsors and it is for this reason that I am even happier. I want to thank Ducati, Aruba, Stefano Cecconi, Daniele Casolari, Serafino Foti for the trust they have shown me. I hope to be able to repay them by returning to always have fun on the track as we have done in the last rounds”, said Bautista.

“I have said several times that our priority was to continue with Alvaro and I couldn’t wait to officially announce the renewal of our collaboration. It’s truly a pleasure to work with him, both from a personal and professional point of view and I am convinced that by continuing to give our all we will be able to overcome the new challenges that the regulations are offering us. During the last races, solutions were found that allowed Alvaro to rediscover the sensations that were a bit lacking at the beginning of the year, now we must continue on this path to have a great end to the season and try to close the gap that separates us from the top”, added Stefano Cecconi, team principal of Aruba.it Racing – Ducati.

“We are really happy to have Alvaro Bautista with us again. In recent seasons he has given us indescribable emotions and his talent is certainly indisputable. The new regulations and the very high level reached by the Superbike World Championship will make 2025 a demanding year, but we are ready to face this challenge together too. Now, however, it will be important to stay focused on the current season: the Championship is still long and we will do everything possible to put Alvaro in a position to defend the world title until the end”, concluded Gigi Dall’Igna, general manager of Ducati Corse.